10 YA Books To Read During Mental Health Awareness Month and All Year Long

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. So, I compiled a list of my top ten favorite books with mental health representation including Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, OCD, & Addiction. #MentalHealthMatters

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The Books and Trigger Warnings

The purchase links below are affiliate codes. If you use them to purchase any of these books, I own a small commission and it helps me to create more content at no extra cost to you!

*Trigger warnings are provided from the book’s The Story Graph pages. Click the book titles to read my full reviews of the books.



The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby – ADHD, Depression, & Intrusive Thoughts

CW: bullying, blood, injury, mention of pregnancy and childbirth, anxiety and anger, mention of hospital visit, intrusive thoughts, depression

Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas – Anxiety

Content warnings: Anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts, Medical Content (Trip to the Dentist), Bullying

Small Knight and the Anxiety Monster by Manka Kasha- Anxiety

CW: Anxiety

Icebreaker by A.L. Grazaidei: Depression & Anxiety [18+]

CW: Alcohol, Sexual Content, Depression, Anxiety, Abandonment, Intrusive thoughts, Scene where character takes meds with alcohol

The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle – Social Anxiety

No CW’s available

TOP TEN by Katie Cotugno – Social Anxiety

CW: Anxiety attack, Brain Injury and Brain Trauma (Concussions), Absentee parenting

Heartstopper and This Winter by Alice Oseman – OCD, Eating Disorder, and Anxiety

*Volumes 3 and 4 talk about Charlie’s OCD and eating disorder

Volume 3:

  • Eating disorder – discussion, behavior, and one scene in which a character passes out
  • One brief reference to past self-harm
  • Brief references to past bullying

Volume 4:

  • Anorexia – portrayals of restrictive eating behaviour and other discussions around eating disorders, with a focus on anorexia.
  • Self-harm – references to incidents of self-harm (though there is no on-page self-harm)
  • Psychiatric ward – a character stays briefly in a psychiatric ward and has an overall positive experience there.
  • OCD – brief discussions of OCD symptoms.
  • Therapy, including a brief discussion of trauma.
  • Brief references to past bullying.

This Winter:

  • Eating disorder – discussion and behavior
  • Depression – discussion and behavior
  • References to past self-harm, including a major self-harm relapse
  • References to time spent at a psychiatric ward
  • Ignorant views regarding mental illness

All Content Warnings can be found on Oseman’s site.

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone (OCD)

CW: OCD, Suicide, Panic attack, Cancer, Bullying, Death of a Parent, Depression, Hallucinations, Bullying, Ableism, Intrusive Thoughts, Mentions of Self-Harm, Derealization

Little Universes by Heather Demetrios – Addiction

 CW: Opioid Addiction, Overdose, Abortion, Cheating, Depression, Suicide Attempt, Death of parents, Grief

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman – Schizophrenia

CW: Schizophrenia, Depression, Suicide, Talk of death

Delicates by Brenna Thummler – depression and suicidal thoughts

CW: Depression, Suicidal thoughts, Illusions to suicide, Bullying, Grief & Loss


SHOP THE LIST


10 Queer Books for Back to School Season

Looking for some great queer reads for back to school? Check out my top ten picks! From coming out stories to queer romance, there’s something for everyone in this list. So whether you’re a student, teacher, parent, or just someone looking for a good book, be sure to check out these titles! *This list consists…

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